I am Appointed Vechtgeneraal
Up to the 9th of December I had only been a Vice-Commandant, but on the
morning of that day I received a telegram from States-President Steyn,
asking me to go to the Western frontier as Vechtgeneraal.
This came as a great surprise to me, and I telegraphed back to the
President asking for time to think the matter over. To tell the truth, I
should have much preferred to go through the campaign as a private
burgher.
Almost immediately after this there came another telegram--this time
from Mr. A. Fisscher, a member of the Executive Council, and a man whom
I respected greatly on account of his official position. He urged me not
to decline the appointment, but to proceed at once to the Western
borders. I did not know what to do. However, after deliberating for a
short time, and with great difficulty overcoming my disinclination to
leave my present associates, I decided to accept the post offered to me.
Commandant Steenekamp was kind enough to allow me to take with me
fourteen men, with whom I had been on especially friendly terms; and,
after a few parting words to the Heilbron burghers, in which I thanked
them for all the pleasant times I had passed in their company, I left
the laager.
It was heart-breaking to tear myself away from my commando: that 9th of
December was a day which I shall never forget.
The following morning I arrived, with my staff, at Elandslaagte Station,
on our way to Bloemfontein. A special train, provided by the Transvaal
authorities, at the request of my Government, was waiting for us, and
we started without a moment's delay. As we journeyed on, the conductor
would sometimes ask me whether I should like to stop at such and such a
station, but my answer was always:
"No! no! hurry on!"
But when we got as far as Viljoen's Drift, there was an end to my
"special train!" In spite of the Government's orders that I was to be
sent forward without delay, I had to wait six hours, and then be content
to travel as an ordinary passenger.
At Bloemfontein we found everything ready for us, and at once started on
our journey of sixty or seventy miles to Magersfontein, where we arrived
on December the 16th.
During the time I had spent in travelling, three important engagements
had taken place, namely those of Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg.
At Colenso, the English had suffered heavy losses, and ten guns had
fallen into our hands. Magersfontein also had cost them dear, and there
General Wauchope had met his fate; while at Stormberg seven hundred of
them had been taken prisoners, and three of their big guns had been
captured by us.
At Magersfontein were six or seven thousand Transvaal burghers under
General Piet Cronje, with General De la Rey as second in command. Thus
it fell to my lot to take over the command of the Free-Staters. The
Commander-in-Chief of these Free State burghers, as well as of those who
were camped round Kimberley, was Mr. C.J. Wessels; Mr. E.R. Grobler
commanded at Colesberg, and Mr. J.H. Olivier at Stormberg.
I spent my first few days at Magersfontein in organizing the Free State
burghers. When this task had been accomplished, General De la Rey and I
asked General Cronje's permission to take fifteen hundred men, and carry
on operations in the direction of Hopetown and De Aar with the intention
of breaking Lord Methuen's railway communications. But Cronje would
hear nothing of the scheme. Say what we would, there was no moving him.
He absolutely refused to allow fifteen hundred of his men to leave their
positions at Magersfontein, unless the Government found it impossible to
procure that number of burghers from elsewhere. Thus our plan came to
nothing.
Shortly afterwards De la Rey was sent to the commandos at Colesberg, and
I succeeded him in the command of the Transvaalers at Magersfontein. The
Government then put General Wessels in sole command at Kimberley, and
gave General Cronje the chief command over the Free State burghers at
Magersfontein. Thus it was that I, as Vechtgeneraal, had to receive my
orders from Cronje. I had the following Commandants under me: Du Preez,
of Hoopstad; Grobler, of Fauresmith; D. Lubbe, of Jacobsdal; Piet
Fourie, of Bloemfontein; J. Kok and Jordaan, of Winburg; Ignatius
Ferreira, of Ladybrand; Paul De Villiers, of Ficksburg; Du Plessis, and,
subsequently, Commandant Diederiks, of Boshof.
* * * * *
The English had entrenched themselves at the Modder River, we at
Magersfontein. There was little or nothing for us to do, and yet I never
had a more troublesome time in my life. I had all the Transvaalers under
my orders, in addition to the burghers of the Free State, and the
positions which I had to inspect every day extended over a distance of
fifteen miles from end to end. I had to listen to constant complaints;
one of the officers would say that he could not hold out against an
attack if it were delivered at such and such a point; another, that he
had not sufficient troops with him, not to mention other remarks which
were nonsensical in the extreme.
In the meantime, the enemy was shelling our positions unceasingly. Not a
day passed but two of their Lyddite guns dropped shells amongst us.
Sometimes not more than four or five reached us in the twenty-four
hours; at other times from fifty to two hundred, and once as many as
four hundred and thirty-six.
In spite of this, we had but few mishaps. Indeed, I can only remember
three instances of any one being hurt by the shells. A young burgher,
while riding behind a ridge and thus quite hidden from the enemy, was
hit by a bomb, and both he and his horse were blown to atoms. This youth
was a son of Mr. Gideon van Tonder, a member of the Executive Council.
Another Lyddite shell so severely wounded two brothers, named Wolfaard,
Potchefstroom burghers, that we almost despaired of their lives.
Nevertheless, they recovered. I do not want to imply that the British
Artillery were poor shots. Far from it. Their range was very good, and,
as they had plenty of practice every day, shot after shot went home. I
ascribe our comparative immunity to a Higher Power, which averted
misfortune from us.
I had not been long at Magersfontein before I became convinced that Lord
Methuen was most unlikely to make another attack on our extensive
positions. I said nothing of this to any of the burghers, but on more
than one occasion, I told General Cronje what I thought about the
matter.
"The enemy," I repeated to him over and over again, "will not attack us
here. He will flank us." But Cronje would not listen to me.
The presence of women in our laager was a great hindrance to me in my
work. Indeed, I opened a correspondence with the Government on the
matter, and begged them to forbid it. But here again my efforts were
unavailing. Later on, we shall see in what a predicament the Republican
laagers were placed through the toleration of this irregularity.
Meanwhile, the inevitable results of Cronje's policy became more and
more apparent to me, and before long we had to suffer for his obstinacy
in keeping us to our trenches and _schanzes_.[16]
[Footnote 16: A shelter-mound of earth and boulders.]